BILL AND JJ'S EXCELLENT ANNIVERSARY

 OUR HAWAIIAN CRUISE

MARCH 21-28, 2015

(CLICK THE THUMBNAIL PHOTOS FOR A LARGER IMAGE)

21 MARCH, 2015  SATURDAY

We departed San Diego at 0930 via Hawaiian Air and arrived in Honolulu at 1240 local time (3 hour time difference).  By 1500 we were on board the Norwegian Cruise Line ship "Pride of America" which is now the only cruise ship that stays in Hawaii all year long. The ship departed 1900 for our first port visit.

22 MARCH, 2015  SUNDAY  KAHULULI (MAUI)

Today was our 20th anniversary day!! We were off on our first shore excursion with guide Shestin and 6 other tourists. This was a rain forest and waterfalls hike along some rough terrain and shallow stream crossings.

23 MARCH, 2015  MONDAY  KAHULULI (MAUI)

Today we had a very early (0700) excursion to the south side of the island for a day of snorkeling.  Maui appears to be two volcanic islands separated by a very low level and flat central valley.  Our taxi drove across this valley to the Maalaea Harbor and by 0800 we were aboard the excursion boat "Pride of Maui". On the way to our first snorkel spot at Molokini Crater we had several views of humpback whales spouting and breeching.  This was near the end of the whale season since they are heading back to northern waters for feeding after doing their mating and birthing around the islands.  We also spotted in the distance Lanai Island which is mostly private property and the smaller Kahoolawe uninhabited island.

The next snorkel stop was at "turtle bay" where two or three sea turtles seemed to be very interested in watching all the swimmers.  In both places there were more people than fish in the waters.  The reefs did not seem to have much life.

Finally, we had great hamburgers and mai tai drinks which were included in the fare and we were back aboard our ship in plenty of time for the 1800 departure from Maui.

24 MARCH, 2015  TUESDAY  HILO (HAWAII)

Today's excursion was a lava fields and waterfalls tour with guide Edmond and one other tourist, Dan.

We learned from Edmond that Hilo is a city of about 45,000 population, receives about 300 inches of rain per year (mostly at night), had a high temperature once of 89 degrees F and an all time low of 60.

On this day's tour we visited a Japanese style park, several water falls, a statue of King Kamehamea the Great, a funky "hippy" town of Pahoa (soon to be obliterated by lava), numerous beaches, a lava tree "forest" and a warm water swimming pool by the sea.

25 MARCH, 2015  WEDNESDAY  KONA (HAWAII)

Today was our opportunity to visit the place we were married in 1995, The Royal Kona Resort. Fortunately the resort was an easy walk from the pier where our "tender" boat from the ship docked. Sure enough, the resort has not changed much in 20 years and we got some photos of familiar spots.  We asked a resort employee to take a photo of us and we showed him our wedding photos.  He recognized the preacher, Leon, who did our ceremony and he even knows the photographer, Henry, who took the pictures!  The rest of the day we just strolled around, returned to the ship and had a special steak dinner at Cagney Restaurant on the ship.

26 MARCH, 2015  THURSDAY  NAWILIWILI (KAUAI)

Today we did a bus tour heading towards the west from Nawilili/Lihue (I never did figure out which of those communities we were in).  Our main destination was an overlook of the Waimea Canyon.  We learned that the island of Kauai prides itself on a lack of large developments, lots of coffee, seed corn, alfalfa and cattle growing.  Kauai does not have a lack of chickens!  They have run wild all over the islands and greatly annoy the local residents.  All us tourists were encouraged to grab a few chicks and take them home!

That evening we went for a tour and luau at an old sugar/pineapple plantation.

27 MARCH, 2015  FRIDAY  NAWILIWILI (KAUAI)

Today was a short excursion day because of our early 1400 departure to head back towards Honolulu.  We did a van tour along the east and north coasts with viewing stops for a lovely stone church and the light house in Kilauea and stops at Anini Beach and Hanalei Bay.  Dozens of movies have been made on this island including shots for Jurassic Park. 

Finally, at 1400 the Pride of America started back to Honolulu with a long loop along the north and west coasts of Kauai.  We were able to see the Napoli coast of the island which is accessible only by sea.  The steep, green mountains at the edge of the sea are truly an amazing site.

28 MARCH, 2015  SATURDAY  HONOLULU

The disembarkation from the ship went smoothly and transfer from the pier to the airport gave us plenty of time to wait for our 1230 departure.  By 2200 local time we were back home in San Diego.  We will not wait 20 years for our next visit to these beautiful islands.